Ankle ice pack



Aug. 23, 1960 J. c. WALDRUM ANKLE ICE PACK Filed Aug. 26, 1958 FIG.

FIG. 5

INVENTOR JOHN CARTER WALDRUM ATTORNEY ANKLE ICE PACK John CarterWaldrum, Box 321, Bandera, Tex.

Filed Aug. 26, 1958, Ser. No. 757,350 9 4 Claims. 01. 128-402) Thisinvention relates generally to packs for applying cold or heat to ailingmembers of the human body; and r it relates more particularly to an icepack for applying cold to a sprained or injured ankle.

The usual first aid for a sprained ankle is to wrap it tightly and thenapply an ice pack. The sooner that is done the quicker the recoverysince the swelling is thereby reduced.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an ankle ice packwhich may be carried in the first aid kit of an athetic coach ortrainer, a doctor or other person who may have to render first aid to asprained ankle and which may be applied to the injured ankle in theminimum of time.

Another object of the invention is to provide an ankle pack having atubular inner casing or sock to enclose the ankle with elastic upper andlower bands to surround and grip the leg and the foot, and an outertube-like casing or sock which surrounds and encloses the inner one forholding ice or cold water, the lower end of the outer casing beingattached to the lower foot-encircling band and the upper end extendingabove the upper leg-encircling band and being adapted to be closedaround the upper portion of the leg by a draw string or equivalentmeans.

A further object is to provide an ankle pack of the above character withpartitions in the ice-receiving space or chamber between the twosock-like casings, whereby to keep the ice from falling to the heelafter a part of it has melted.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the inventionresides in the novel combinations and arrangements of parts and thenovel features of construction hereinafter described and claimed, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings which show the presentpreferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side view, with parts broken away and in section, of theankle pack with the parts in a collapsed or flattened condition so thatit may be rolled or folded for storage;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 33 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail vectical section through the hem at thelower end of the pack;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic vertical section, on a reduced scale, showingthe pack in use; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing two modifications that mightbe used.

Referring more in detail to the drawings the numerals 10 and 11 denoteinner and outer sock-like casing members made of any suitable flexibleand waterproof material such as polyethylene, rubber, rubberized fabricor similar rubber-like material. The inner casing 10 has open ends andis of a size to surround the ankle of the user and the adjacent portionsof the foot and the leg. The outer casing 11 is also tube-like but ofgreater size 2,949,914 Patented Aug. 23, 196i} so that when the lowerends of the two casings are suitably united at 12 by a water tightconnection, a chamber 13 is formed between the two casings to receiveice or other temperature-changing medium. At or adjacent to the unitedlower ends of the casings is an elastically-contractable band member 14which surrounds and grips the intermediate portion of the users foot.This band means may be constructed as shown in Fig. 4 by stitchingtogether the sheets of the two casings to form a hem 15 in which isdisposed an endless elastic band 16. The contraction of the lattercauses gathers or folds in the hem according to the size of the foot. Atthe top of the inner casing .10 is formed a hem 16 which also containsan endless elastic band 17 so that the upper end of that casing will begathered around and grip the users leg at a suitable distance above theankle.

The other or upper end of the outer casing 11 is provided with means forcontracting it toward the leg at a point preferably above the band means16-17. This contracting and fastening means may be a draw string 18 in ahem 19 formed by a folded strip of textile fabric stitched as at 20 overthe upper edge of the casing sheet 11. The outer casing is larger incircumference than "the inner one so that a substantial quantity ofcrushed :ice deposited in the chamber 13 will surround the ankle, aswill be understood on reference to Fig. 5. As some of the ice melts, theremainder will have a tendency to settle in the heel portion of thechamber. and in order to keep some of it adjacent the instep and frontportion of the ankle, I preferably provide at each side of the chamberan upright partition 21. These may be strips of flexible sheet materialwhich extend from a point adjacent to the hem 16 to a point adjacent tothe bottom of the chamber and which have their upright edges suitablefastened to opposed portions of the inner and outer casings. The icechamber is thus divided into an upper front portion and a lower rearportion.

In Fig. 6 I have shown two optional features which may be used inconnection with my ankle ice pack. If desired, any suitable flexible andsoft heat-insulating covering 22 may be applied to the outer casing 11to check the melting of the ice. Also if desired, a part sock 23 of woolor other cloth may be fastened to the hem 14 to enclose the toes andfront portion of the foot to provide warmth.

The inner casing or sock will be large enough to easily slip over thefoot and ankle even when a bandage has been applied to the sprainedankle, and hence the foot and bandage will be kept dry while the coldpenetrates the ankle. The use of the partitions insures that ice will bekept entirely around the ankle. The manner of fastening the partstogether will, of course, depend upon the materials used. It will beobvious that the pack permits of first aid to a sprained ankle in theminimum of time; and that, for example, a football coach may carry oneor more of the packs with his first aid material and treat a sprainedankle of one of his players so quickly that the player will be back inthe game in a matter of days rather than weeks.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made forcarrying out the objects of the invention, and while preferences havebeen disclosed, attention is invited to the possibility of makingvariations within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. An ice pack for a sprained joint in a human limb comprising an inneropen-ended tubular casing of flexible waterproof material to enclose theentire joint and extend above and below the same, resilient lower andupper openings for the casing adapted to closely fit portions of thelimb below and above the joint, an outer open-ended tubular casing offlexible waterproof material surrounding said inner casing, awater-tight connection between the lower end portions of the two casingsproviding between them an open top chamber for ice and cold water, saidouter casing being of substantially greater size than said inner casingto permit pieces ofice to be deposited in said chamber around the entireopen top of the outer casing when the latter is distended, and means forcontracting the open top of the outer casing and holding said top aroundthe limb adjacent the resilient upper opening of the inner casing toretain the ice and water in said chamber. 1

2. The pack of claim 1 together with upright partitions in said chamberat opposite sides thereof to provide the chamber with an upper frontportion around the front of the joint and a lower rear portion aroundthe rear of the joint, said partitions being flexible strips united attheir upright edges to the opposed portions of the two casings toprevent the ice in the front portion of the chamber from dropping to therear portion thereof.

3. An ice pack for a sprained ankle or other joint comprising an inneropen-ended tubular casing of flexible waterproof material to enclose theentire joint and extend below and above the same, a resilient loweropening for the casing adapted to closely fit the foot adjacent thejoint, a resilient upper opening for the casing adapted to closely fitthe leg adjacent the joint, an outer open 4 ended casing of flexiblewaterproof material surrounding said inner casing and of greater lengththanthe latter, a water-tight connection between the lower end portionsof the two casings providing between them an open-top chamber for iceand cold water, said outer casing being of substantially greaterdiameter than said inner casing to permit pieces of ice to be depositedin said chamber around the entire open top of the outer casing when thelatter is distended, a hem around the top of said outer casing, and adraw string in said hem for contracting the top of the outer oasing andholding it around the leg above the top of the inner casing to retainthe ice and water in said chamber.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,374,088 Miller Apr. 5, 1921 25 2,320,467 Rabil June 1, 1943 2,706,988Weber Apr. 26, 1955 H FOREIGN PATENTS 343,237 Italy Sept. 18, 1936

